A Quick Strategy for Successful Cold Calls

If you’ve ever sold insurance, odds are you have made a cold call. Some producers claim it’s the most fruitful part of their sales, while others spend all day on calls just to line up one meeting. There’s no foolproof way to ensure you’ll land an appointment every call, but you can improve your chances with a few quick tweaks to your cold call strategy.

Make a plan

This sounds so simple, and it is. But more often than not agents don’t have an actual plan in place when they get into a day’s worth of calls any call. Just saying you will make 35 calls before lunch and set 7 appointment per week is not a plan.

Create specific prospecting targets list

There should never be an over-generalized idea of who you will be talking to. You want to get as specific as possible for targets including their location, renewal dates, family, industry etc. Define your targets first and you will secure more meetings than when you jump in first with no strategy.

Develop your pitch before calling

Your pitch doesn’t have to be a play-by-play robotic script. A good pitch will map out goals and guide you down the path of achievement while you are on the phone. Jot down a few responses you can make when you get objections from the prospect. This will help you stay on your feet as you go through the call.

You have 30 seconds to keep that person on the line. Prepare yourself a few not sales-y, but strong openers to connect with prospects off the bat. Keep a couple of intriguing talking points you can seamlessly apply to show expertise in insurance you are trying to sell.

While you are not the star of the show, it can reassure the prospects that you are legitimate. After all, we are just a voice on the other side of the phone to them.

Prepare a voicemail script

Put a voicemail script in place that will increase callbacks. When compiling this script, keep in mind that the listener will feel vulnerable in this place. You have information about them, they don’t know who you are. You want to express respect for their time in your voicemail.

The goal here is to be clear in your intentions, deploy a friendly tone, and leave the option to call back, email (which you will provide), or simply say no.

Develop a consistent sequence of calls, voicemails, and follow-up emails over the course of several days. If there is no response after your predetermined date, send the lead back for more nurturing. They aren’t ready to buy just yet.

Remember…

Cold calls are not used to close sales. They are intended to move leads through the sales funnel so you can eventually close the sale. Here you will sell the appointment, not the product. Once you have your prospect sitting across from you at an appointment, then you discuss your products.